Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for establishing Federal College of Education (Technical) in Isu, Ebonyi in 2019.
The governor expressed the gratitude when he received the Provost of the college, Prof. Reuben Okechukwu, and his principal officers who paid him a courtesy call at the Government House, Owerri, on Monday.
Uzodimma described the college of education as a boost to educational potential in the South-East geo-political zone.
This, he said, would go a long way in closing the gap in tertiary institutions’ admissions, addressing unemployment and stimulating the economy because of other activities that would be generated from the operations of the institution.
CISLAC, TMG hails Buhari for assenting to electoral law
Group hails Buhari for signing Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law
He appealed to kind-hearted Nigerians to support the smooth take-off and sustenance of the institution, as government could not fund education alone.
Uzodimma assured that his government would seek further discussions with the college’s authorities on specific areas of support by his administration to ensure its smooth take-off, even as he enjoined the team to work hard to achieve success.
“We have trust in your capacity to stay afloat, even in the face of turbulence that may herald the commencement of the institution and we assure you that you can count on us and the state as partners,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Okechukwu said that his team was on a campaign to all the five states in the South-East zone to solicit for cooperation and assistance ahead of the institution’s formal take off in October.
He added that the college was one of the federal colleges of education established by the federal government in September 2019 in all the six geo-political zones of the country.
The provost acknowledged the president’s magnanimity in approving one billion naira as take-off grant to be sourced from Tertiary Education Trust Fund, expressing optimism that the money would be released in record time to enable the management implement its programmes.
He specifically thanked the governor for his efforts while in the Senate for the college to come to the South-East zone and for them to be appointed as its principal officers.
Okechukwu informed the governor about the assistance which the college had already received from Ebonyi, the host state, including land allocation, a temporary site and some school blocks for administrative take-off, among others.
He, however, highlighted the institution’s challenges to include: hostel accommodation, a micro-teaching laboratory, workshops and technical laboratories, ICT centre, transportation and others.
The provost said that four schools had been approved for initial take-off by National Council for Colleges of Education, adding that students’ admission would be on pro-rata basis.
He mentioned the approved schools to include: Education and General Studies, Secondary Education (Technical), Secondary Education (Sciences) and Education (Vocational).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the provost was accompanied on the visit by the Registrar, Dr Linus Nnamani and the Bursar, Mr Offor Ojeh. (NAN)
